Reports

Deepening the Culture of Fear

The Criminalization of Peaceful Expression in Malaysia

This report documents the government’s recent use of overbroad and vaguely worded laws to criminalize peaceful speech and assembly. Since Human Rights Watch’s October 2015 report, “Creating a Culture of Fear,” the Malaysian government has done little to bring these laws and practices in line with international legal standards. Instead, the government has suggested it will strengthen statutes limiting speech on social media and other rights-offending laws.

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  • Creating a Culture of Fear

    The Criminalization of Peaceful Expression in Malaysia

    Thise 141-page report documents the government’s use and abuse of a range of broad and vaguely worded laws to criminalize peaceful expression, including debates on matters of public interest.

    cover malaysia report

  • "No Answers, No Apology"

    Police Abuses and Accountability in Malaysia

    The 102-page report examines cases of alleged police abuse in Malaysia since 2009, drawing on first-hand interviews and complaints by victims and their families.

  • “They Deceived Us at Every Step”

    Abuse of Cambodian Domestic Workers Migrating to Malaysia

    This report documents Cambodian domestic workers’ experiences during recruitment, work abroad, and upon their return home. It is based on 80 interviews with migrant domestic workers, their families, government officials, nongovernmental organizations, and recruitment agents.

  • Slow Reform

    Protection of Migrant Domestic Workers in Asia and the Middle East

    This 26-page report reviews conditions in eight countries with large numbers of migrant domestic workers: Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Singapore, and Malaysia.

  • Convicted Before Trial

    Indefinite Detention Under Malaysia’s Emergency Ordinance

    This 35-page report documents how the Malaysian government has detained criminal suspects indefinitely without charge or trial, subjected them to beatings and ill treatment while in detention, and rearrested them upon court-ordered release.

  • Swept Under the Rug

    Abuses against Domestic Workers Around the World

    This 93-page report synthesizes Human Rights Watch research since 2001 on abuses against women and child domestic workers originating from or working in El Salvador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Togo, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.

  • Detained Without Trial

    Abuse of Internal Security Act Detainees in Malaysia

    This 34-page report is based on interviews with family members of current ISA detainees, their lawyers and handwritten statements of ISA detainees. It documents the physical abuse, ill-treatment and humiliation of more than 25 detainees in Kamunting Detention Center in December 2004.

  • Help Wanted

    Abuses against Female Migrant Domestic Workers in Indonesia and Malaysia

    This 110-page report documents the abuse and exploitation that Indonesian female domestic workers experience at each step of the migration process. Most domestic workers are forbidden to leave their workplace and unknown numbers suffer psychological, physical, and sexual assault by labor agents and employers.

  • "Bad Dreams"

    Exploitation and Abuse of Migrant Workers in Saudi Arabia

    Migrant workers in the purportedly modern society that Saudi Arabia has become continue to suffer extreme forms of labor exploitation that sometimes rise to slavery-like conditions. Their lives are further complicated by deeply rooted gender, religious, and racial discrimination.

  • In the Name of Security

    Counterterrorism and Human Rights Abuses Under Malaysia’s Internal Security Act

    This 60-page report documents a pattern of serious abuses against detainees, including beatings, burning with lit cigarettes, and psychological abuse.

  • Malaysia's Internal Security Act and Suppression of Political Dissent

    Since the September 11 attacks in the United States, Prime Minister Mahathir has justified use of the Internal Security Act (ISA) on counter-terrorism grounds. The September attacks also prompted a major shift in U.S. policy regarding political repression in Malaysia.

  • Malaysia/Burma: Living in Limbo: Burmese Rohingyas in Malaysia

    After fleeing systematic discrimination, forced labor, and other abuses in Burma, ethnic Rohingya in Malaysia face a whole new set of abuses in Malaysia. These include beatings, extortion, and arbitrary detention. The refugees are forced to live in poverty and constant fear of expulsion from the country.

  • Background Briefing: Arrests in Malaysia

    Former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was arrested on September 20 under the Internal Security Act, a law that Human Rights Watch believes to be a violation of basic human rights. Since his sacking on September 2, many of his supporters have also been arrested. The background to the case follows.